Harris: ‘There is No Question I’m in Favor of Banning Fracking’

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) on Wednesday night said there was “no question” she was in favor of banning fracking during CNN’s climate town hall.

Climate activist Jessie Bluedorn asked Harris whether she would commit to implementing a federal ban on fracking during her first day in office if she is elected president.

Recent Stories in Politics

“There is no question I’m in favor of banning of fracking,” Harris said. “Starting with what we can do on day one around public lands and then there has to be legislation, but yes. This is something I’ve taken on in California, I have a history of working on this issue.”

“And to your point, we have to just acknowledge that the residual impact of fracking is enormous in terms of the impact on the health and safety of communities,” Harris continued.

Host Erin Burnett followed up by asking Harris whether she would ban offshore drilling.

“Yes and again I’ve worked on that,” Harris said. “You can talk to the folks in Santa Barbara about the work I’ve done there where it’s a big problem, but it’s a big problem in many areas of our country.”

Hours before the climate town hall, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) urged all the 2020 Democratic candidates to support a federal fracking ban.

“Any proposal to avert the climate crisis must include a full fracking ban on public and private lands,” Sanders said in a statement. “Fracking is a danger to our water supply. It’s a danger to the air we breathe. It causes earthquakes. It’s highly explosive. Safe fracking is, like clean coal, pure fiction. But, most importantly, methane from natural gas contributes to climate change and is setting us on a path to disaster. When we are in the White House, we will end the era of fossil fuels, and that includes fracking.”

Cameron Cawthorne is a Media Analyst for the Washington Free Beacon. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 2013. Prior to joining Free Beacon, Cameron was a Legislative Assistant in the Virginia General Assembly and a War Room Analyst at America Rising.